


Introspection

by proser132



Series: It Tolls For Thee [2]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Wedding Jitters, Weddings, alternate universe pep talks, you know the usual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 11:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5705437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/proser132/pseuds/proser132
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two years after the events of PA, and things have settled down, including Aster. On the eve of his wedding, he turns to himself for answers - and because his life is strange, he might have actually found them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Introspection

**Author's Note:**

> This is the short segue sequel between Postapocalyptica and Toothiana and the Holy War (say segue sequel ten times fast). It will answer some questions, but open up a lot more. Don't say I didn't warn you.
> 
> Oh, Tooth. You're so sweet. And mysterious.

Like clockwork, Aster awoke with the dawn. Beside him, laying splayed half beneath the sheets and half beneath Aster's own weight, Jack breathed, the whistle in his breathing a little louder than it had been the first time he'd noticed it.

Aster smiled softly, and slid his paw over Jack's bare shoulder; Jack had taken enthusiastically to Aster's now-two-year-old edict of no clothes in bed, and though sometimes Aster had reason to curse him for it (how many days had he spent too long laying in bed beside him instead of getting to work the way he should?), he did enjoy the intimacy of it. Jack bare to him, and only him, and vulnerable and pliant beside him. It never failed to leave Aster smiling.

Today, though, it felt a little more, more – just _more_ , Aster supposed. He shuffled out of the warm cocoon of their bed, careful to leave Jack sleeping, and slipped his bandoleer on, buckling his bracers into place. He unwound the green scarf from its place on the bedpost on his side of the bed, and wrapped it around his own neck.

It had taken some searching through Sandy's library to find even a hint of what plant to use, and then some serious time hunting through the forests (with some help from the trees, and then some coaxing from the plant to give up some of its stems and leaves in return for some new ones), and _then_ more than a dozen different attempts to get the dye right. Aster had looked more at his own eyes in three days than he ever had in his life, because Jack had insisted on getting the colour right, and deft hand at the actual dyeing process though he might have been, he was a bit off when it came to colour matching.

'Might be a bit colourblind, mate,' Aster had remarked on their seventh attempt, the last two having been too yellow. Jack was off pouting in the corner, trying to look like he was doing no such thing and entirely engrossed in carding the wool laying in thick puddles at his feet.

'If I am, I definitely got it from North's side,' Jack snorted. 'Have you seen the colour of his house?'

Aster smiled now at the remembrance, and knotted the scarf in place. It was at last cool enough to wear it again, and though October wasn't due for another week, September seemed intent to end on a distinctly chilly note. Hopefully, it would be warmer come tomorrow, he thought, and looked at Jack once more, the smile softening again. He'd like to be married in full sunlight, though he'd be happy with whatever the sky gave him.

He leaned down, and kissed Jack's temple gently. Jack stirred a bit, and tilted his head up wordlessly for more affection. Aster gave it to him, brushing his chin over Jack's head, renewing the scent mark, and Jack mumbled senselessly before dropping back down into sleep. Jack may be a fully grown man, Aster thought with a grin he couldn't quite tamp down, _but when he's sleeping, he's as cute as a newborn jumbuck_.

He'd had good reason to make the comparison, since Jack kept a tiny flock now, three ewes, two lambs, and an old, stubborn ram. Speaking of, they'd be clamouring for their feed, and Aster left the room, though not without regret. Jack would be awake in another hour or so, though, and that was hardly too much time apart.

Sometimes, Aster forgot they weren't in the first flush of their relationship. The first few weeks after they had gotten their heads on straight, the long journey to find Jack's family and the resultant war with Pitch, had an odd effect on their relationship. Where the strain would have ruined many others, Aster knew, it had forced them to become ridiculously good at communication ridiculously quickly, and the bond they'd forged in the mad race had remained steady, even after two years of peace.

There was a clatter from outside as the ram, Judevine, knocked the trough over again, and Aster sighed as the chickens began to squawk in alarm. Mostly peace.

He fed the animals in the mist and frost of the morning, and bid hello to the the plants he passed. They, too, clamoured for his attention, but since all but the final harvest was past, there was little work they needed. The last of the tomatoes were ripening in the sun, waiting to be picked up, and the grapes would be another few days before they were completely ready. The fields were empty, though he'd raised wild grass in their place, disliking the look of naked earth after having seen entirely too much of it when Pitch had torched his farm.

Nevertheless, he let the trees and the fruits and vegetables call to him, and he drifted between them, coming at last to the grand oak at the far side of the orchard. It was the second largest tree on the farm – the largest, of course, being the massive redwood that dominated the valley and housed his home. The oak grumbled at him, as it tended to do; it had a distinctly grumpy personality, but that suited Aster just fine. It was a tree he'd grown from an acorn he'd found in the ruins of his old home, a remnant of the oak his dam had grown when she'd been alive.

'Hello,' he said, patting its wood.

_It's unnatural,_ the Oak huffed. It sounded more human than most trees, but that was partially proximity to the redwood's root system; the redwood was more aware than just about any other tree in the world, and all that grew near it gained some kind of new awareness from the closeness. _You shouldn't be so pleased, all this frost around._

'Don't mind frost much, meself,' Aster said, smiling a bit. 'Perfectly natural to me.'

_You would think so,_ the Oak sniffed. _You're marrying him_.

'See, now I know ye're just in a crank mood,' Aster said, idly beginning to prune away some dead twigs from the lower branches. 'I know ye like him just fine. Have ever since he said yer acorns made the best brown dye he'd ever seen.'

The Oak huffed again. _He has good taste. It doesn't mean I like him_.

'Mmhmm,' Aster hummed, because when the Oak was like this, it would just get sulky if Aster kept pushing. 'How's the seedlings?'

_They're well. The two newest – one west of the village, the one you gave the windy unrooted – and the one with the old silver unrooted, have joined the root system_. The Oak sounded proud, and Aster's eyebrows rose; both of them were seedlings only a season old, and shouldn't have dug so deep into the earth. _Your magic does them well_ , the Oak continued, confirming his suspicions.

'Well, I'm glad they're speeding along,' Aster said.

_When are you and the Storm-maker having seedlings?_

Aster sighed, both because of the question and the title. The Oak was using it just to annoy him now, he knew. 'Ye know we can't have seedlings,' he said. 'We're not like ye.'

_Pity,_ the Oak said, and actually managed to unbend enough to sound sympathetic. _As long as he didn't freeze them, he would make a good parent_.

'Ye're telling me,' Aster sighed again. 'Maybe someday we'll foster, or something. Bit far off, though, so don't get yer hopes up.'

_Hard to do, in this place_ , the Oak said, and Aster rolled his eyes; the Oak was in an impossible mood, and nothing would sway it.

'Bunny!'

He turned, grinning at the sound of the voice. 'Emma!' he called, to let her know where he was. 'Thought ye wouldn't be here until tomorrow!'

In the last year, she'd finally figured out how to fly – with assistance from the many Winds around Riverfield, of course, not on her own like her brother. She was still a little leery of heights, which Aster thought was sensible, but she did love the speed of it, and she took every opportunity she could get to fly out to the farm.

The girl in question dropped out of the sky, shrieking in joy, and Aster caught her with a laugh. She'd grown a good deal taller in the past two years, a far cry from the tiny, skinny thing he'd found in Aztlan, and was actually taller than her brother now (much to his eternal grumbling), with long brown hair she kept braided back and big eyes to rival Tooth's. Aster spun her before setting her feet on the ground.

'Like I could wait that long,' Emma said, putting her hands on her hips. 'Are you nervous yet?'

'Nothing to be nervous about,' Aster said, ignoring the twinge in his gut that said the exact opposite. 'Not like anything's going to change after it, ye gumby.'

'It'll be official, though,' she said. 'Like, town records, rings, the whole thing.'

'I think ye're making it a bigger deal than it is,' Aster replied. She tugged on his scarf in retaliation.

'Come on, you should be relieved it _isn't_ a bigger deal,' she said. 'Do you know how hard Grandfather was angling for the entire town to attend?'

Aster's ears laid back a bit; he did, though mostly through Jack's annoyed rantings. 'I'm happy with the number we've got,' he said. 'Close friends, family. That's all we need.'

'Believe me, I know,' she said. 'You're so – antisocial, god.'

'Clearly not, if I still let ye on me farm,' he pointed out as they ambled back towards the tree.

'Is he up yet?'

Aster gave her a flat look. 'It isn't even nine yet.'

'What a lazybones,' she sighed. 'And the day before his own wedding, too. I swear he could sleep through someone shouting in his ear.'

'Some days,' Aster agreed. 'Wouldn't suggest it, Em.'

She opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a tinkling noise. She sighed. 'Does he always do this?'

'Every day. G'morning, love.'

'Not a good morning,' Jack said through the Wind, who was nuzzling Aster's jaw and trying to worm under his scarf. 'You left. This is our last day as bachelors, and –'

'I'm standing right here, Jack!' Emma said loudly.

'– oh my fucking _god_ Emma why are you here? You've ruined everything.'

'What have I ruined?' She asked sweetly.

'I was going to seduce him back into bed, I can't do that with my little sister right there.'

Aster could feel himself going a brilliant red through the short fur of his face, which only got worse when Emma tried to send him an exasperated, commiserating look and instead burst into laughter.

'How red is he, Em?'

Emma's only answer was continued laughter, which was answer enough.

'Rack off,' Aster snapped, shoving at her shoulder. She shoved back in response, which sent him stumbling; she'd inherited Nick's ridiculous strength, and it showed.

'You two are so cute,' Jack's voice said. Aster looked up to see Jack watching them through one of the ice panes that made up the windows of the large tree house. Aster was relieved to see he'd had the common sense to put clothes on. 'Like a brother and sister. Oh, wait.'

'Ha ha,' Aster said. 'Ye've only got twenty four hours to make impending marriage jokes.'

'That's okay,' Jack called down, dispelling the window; he'd have to renew it in a few hours, anyway. 'I have the rest of my life to make the actual marriage jokes. Pretty good trade off, if you ask me.'

Aster grinned fondly at him. 'Already fed Judevine. Consider it an early gift, since ye looked unlikely to see the sun today before the noon mark.'

'Are you calling me lazy, Cottontail?' Jack pouted, leaning out the window.

'That was me,' Emma said brightly. 'He's way nicer to you than you deserve.'

'Did I ever tell you about the time he –'

'Yelled at you about the strawberries, yes, you've told that story so many times you're starting to sound like Grandfather.'

'North isn't half the storyteller I am, he leaves half the words out!'

Aster left the siblings to bicker, slipping away and around the redwood's trunk. He trailed a paw over its bark, and it woke up a little under his touch. 'Morning, Robin,' he said quietly.

Jack had been the one to name the fledgling tree, which had once housed Aster's body in the aftermath of his final battle with Pitch; it had, in the past year, finally grown advanced enough to speak in words, and though it was still very simpleminded, it showed great promise for how intelligent it would become. It certainly already understood the pun about its name (Robin Redbreast), though it took much more delight in it than Aster did.

_Hello, friend-carer-friend,_ the tree rustled cheerily. _Hello! Hello!_

'Are ye feeling alright today? Need any trimming?'

_No, no, no,_ the tree said, having recently gotten into the habit of repeating itself for the delight of hearing the words over and over. It was a bit like a toddler, he thought fondly, if a bit cleverer. _Perfect today, perfect today._

'Glad to hear it, Robin.'

_You are happy? Happy today?_

'Today and most other days,' Aster agreed.

_Good, good, good._ The redwood sighed happily. _Pets_. _Pets._

Aster rolled his eyes; for some reason, Jack had taken to stroking the tree when it was good, and the tree had taken a shine to its 'pets' sessions. Jack laughed himself stupid the first time he'd realised Robin had bothered Aster for it. He gave it a quick series of pats, sending the massive tree sighing happily once more, then continued on to the berry patch that crawled up Robin's side.

They would be just about ready to harvest in a few days time, he judged with quick fingers, the raspberries reddening and the blackberries swelling into thick buds beneath protective leaves. Aster had planted some farther away, for the birds, and even now he could hear them twittering in delight. He kept that patch pretty vibrant, too, and he'd not heard any complaints.

Beneath him, the earthblood hummed and sang quietly, and he hummed back, just to feel the thrumming through the pads of his feet.

'Look at you,' Jack's voice said from behind him. 'Ugh, it's not fair.'

Aster turned, expecting to meet the Wind, and instead faced Jack himself, who was dressed in loose pants and a thin sweater.

'I'd ask ye if ye were cold,' Aster said, eyebrow rising in time with the opposite ear, 'but I think that might be a bit dim.' Jack's eyes flashed in silent laughter as he floated nearer, and Aster watched contentedly; his partner was still sleep-mussed, hair in wild directions and smile soft.

'Wouldn't complain if you'd try to warm me up,' Jack said, waggling his eyebrows, and Aster laughed, before he remembered Emma and coughed. 'She went inside,' Jack said, reading the thought off Aster's face. 'Something about making breakfast? I figured she can't do too much harm. As long as she's not trying to bake again –'

'Thank god for yer ice,' Aster said feelingly. It had been a hard shock to his system when he'd noticed the smoke spilling out of the tree in the middle of July.

'I think she was going to stick to fried potatoes,' Jack said, reaching Aster at last. 'She's good at those. She doesn't under-season them, like North.' His hands ran over Aster's ears, gentle fingers pressing into the base, and Aster hummed under his breath again. 'Totally unfair,' he said again. 'You shouldn't look so good.'

'I think it's the scarf,' Aster said, cracking his eyes open; he'd not noticed when they'd fallen closed. 'M'told it brings out me eyes.'

'It does,' Jack agreed, and dropped a kiss on Aster's nose.

Aster tugged him lower and kissed him properly, earning a chuckle and a warm armful of Jack for his troubles. 'Come on, what did I say?' Jack scolded after a moment. 'Emma's here, I can't seduce you back into bed.'

'She won't be here all day,' Aster replied, as reasonably as he could when Jack was wrapping his thighs around Aster's middle. 'And who's to say I won't seduce _ye_ into bed?'

'Is that a promise?' Jack asked, voice gone a little breathy. Aster loved that he had that effect on Jack – that Jack wanted him as badly as Aster wanted him back.

'One I intend to keep, if yer sister leaves before dark,' Aster said, running his paws over Jack's back. 'If she doesn't, though, ye'll just have to wait for the wedding night.'

'Oh come on, you're not going to insist on that old tradition, are you?' Jack laughed, blinking innocently.

'Shouldn't see the groom the night before the wedding,' Aster said, nudging Jack's nose with his own.

'Doesn't that make you the bride?'

Aster shrugged. 'Doesn't hurt me any, if someone were to call me that. Though, ye _are_ the more delicate of us two.' He caught a lock of Jack's hair, one near his temple, and tugged gently. 'And ye're the one in white, Snowbird.'

'You're the one who was a virgin before we got together,' Jack replied. 'Definitely purer than me.'

'Ye're the younger.'

'You're the prettier.'

'Now, that we're going to have disagree on,' Aster said, and kissed Jack again, briefly. 'Sides, doesn't much matter what ye call me, so long as ye call me yers.'

'Wow, Bunny, save some for the vows, huh?' Jack replied, but his eyes were sparking bright and his grip was tightening. 'You asshole. You're going to insist on being the romantic one until the casket drops, aren't you?'

'Well, when ye speak so sweetly to me,' Aster answered dryly, and Jack laughed in delight. 'Go on, ye know Judevine puts up a fuss until ye show yer ugly mug.'

'From calling me pretty to calling me ugly, I see how it is,' Jack teased. 'No hope for a revival of the honeymoon phase, then?'

'If ye think the last two years haven't been our honeymoon phase, Snowbird, ye're raving,' Aster replied.

Jack pulled away at last, and as always, Aster's arms felt a little empty without his weight. 'I better go get dressed, then,' Jack said, making a face. 'Don't want to be shovelling the pen on my wedding day.'

'That'd be right,' Aster laughed. Jack stuck out his tongue before taking off, presumably back to the window he'd removed, and Aster returned to his tending.

It wasn't really that he was nervous, he mused as he began to weed around the potatoes, pulling them up with great clumps of dirt around their roots so that they'd anchor themselves in the earth around his compost pile. He'd meant what he'd said to Emma, after all. Nothing was really going to change. Jack would still be here with him, in his life and his house and his bed. To be exact, he was promising to _always_ be in Aster's life and house and bed.

It wasn't that he was nervous. It was that he was _terrified_. Two years was – more than he'd ever thought he'd get with Jack, much less the rest of his life. And he wouldn't ever say that he didn't trust Jack's word – when Jack promised something, he meant it. And Jack was saying that this was what he wanted, from tomorrow on until he was buried in the earth. Aster trusted that, with every bit of his being.

He was terrified of the unknown. That something would arise, a sickness or a raid or a hungry bear or an errant storm, or, god forbid, another Pitch. That something would rip Jack away, like it so nearly had two years past.

The worst part was that there was nothing Aster could do. Or even really wanted to do – not being with Jack, not marrying him and waking every morning to his closed eyes and whistling breathing, wasn't even an option anymore. There was nothing Aster could do to soothe the anxiety that lay heavy on his bones, the fear in his throat. He'd lost Jack once, no matter how briefly. He wasn't sure he could handle anything like that again.

It was a certainty that it would happen, one way or the other – either Aster would go first, or Jack would. That was how life worked. And even just the thought of years and years down the line of losing him – or the thought of Jack's pain –

Aster realised, to his horror, that he'd almost pulled up a potato. He apologised and set it back fully into the earth, its chittering voice telling him in no uncertain terms that it was a _potato_ , thank you ever so much, and if he wanted to pull something up before the week was over there was a sprawling dandelion only a foot away. Chastised, Aster thought privately that gardening had been a little easier when the plants hadn't had the audacity to tell him how to do his job. At least they were understanding of and even welcomed the harvest. He wasn't sure he'd have managed to continue farming if they were upset when their time came.

And if _that_ wasn't a metaphor to think on, he didn't know what was.

He sat back, tucking the trailing edge of his scarf back over his shoulder. The sun was higher now, and he could hear Emma's smooth alto and Jack's mellow baritone in the air. They were speaking too softly to differentiate the words at this distance, even with Aster's hearing as it was, but it was a soothing sound. The Aster of years past would have been appalled at how comfortable he would become with others on his farm; he'd valued privacy over most anything, then, save the voice of his dearest friend and the occasional trip into town to see the others.

He'd had no idea how important those voices would become, those faces. He'd had no idea of the family that was waiting for him, if he'd only reach out.

He stood at the sound of his name, called out over the fields, to see Jack and Emma waving at him. He supposed Emma must have finished with what she had come to do, then. He squinted up at the sun, and realised he must have missed breakfast, given that the sun was actually just beginning to tip to the west. His ears drooped. Jack was going to be annoyed; he always was when Aster missed a meal.

Aster shook away his heavy thoughts in favour of the lighter ones, and went to meet them.

 

 

Jack slammed him into the wall of their bedroom, knees hooked around his waist. 'I thought she'd never leave,' he snapped out between gritted teeth, hips rolling into Aster's and hands like claws in the thick fur of Aster' back.

Aster wanted to agree, wanted to say words, but he could only whine as Jack dropped his head and bit at Aster's collarbone, hands sliding up to the back of his head and digging into the base of his ears, locking his body firmly against Aster's. His paws felt clumsy, the way they clutched at Jack's thighs, holding him steady, but if Jack had any complaints, he sure wasn't making them known.

'God, sweetheart, I hope you aren't one of those people who becomes more attractive as they age,' Jack said, licking at the fur with slick tongue, until he could nip at the underside of Aster's chin. The scent drifted past Aster's nose and made his hips jerk out of sync with Jack's. 'I don't think I'll be able to keep up.'

'Good thing ye're ten years younger, then,' Aster gasped out. 'Come on, bed, it's not that far away –'

'What if I don't want to?' Jack asked, sounding both teasing and dangerous at once. Aster shivered, warm though the air in their home may be.

'Ye have never once, in the entire time ye have lived here, turned down that bed,' Aster replied, and the break from Jack's onslaught was what he needed to shift his grip, so that it was him holding Jack up and not Jack pinning him to the wall. 'So I say bed.'

'What, you gonna make me?' Jack asked, eyes bright.

Aster didn't bother with words, just marched forward and dropped Jack unceremoniously on the bed, fingers already catching at the hem of Jack's sweater.

He would never, in his life, get tired of this. The way Jack would arch as Aster pulled the sweater over his head, the way he would tangle his legs with Aster's and trip him onto the bed, laughing all the while. The laughter, the happiness, the sheer joy rolling off Jack every time they did this, without fail.

Afterwards, they lay panting on the bed, messy and delighted with it, and Jack kissed Aster's shoulder. 'It's almost dark,' he said, and gave Aster a look thick with promise. 'Sure you want to keep to tradition?'

It was a difficult decision. Aster wasn't sure when, exactly, the last time was that he'd not slept with Jack by his side. It was either when Emma had caught the flu last summer, or when Baby Tooth had come down with the same thing. He couldn't remember, however, which had gotten sick first, only that there were two stretches of cold nights as Jack had stayed by their sides and helped Tooth at the hospital, who was swamped with the cases of sickness. He'd been proud of Jack – short of Tooth's daughters, there was no better nurse in Riverfield. The nights had been lonely in a way he hadn't known they would be, though.

But, Aster had intended to do something, and if nothing else, he followed through with what he intended. 'Sorry, Snowbird,' he said, shaking his head. 'I'm sure.'

'I'm going to make you regret that tomorrow night,' Jack said, but he was still smiling. He kissed Aster's shoulder again, and floated up – his habit when he wasn't sure he could trust his legs to hold him, and Aster noted that smugly. Something of the thought clearly showed on his face, because Jack swatted him. 'Ugh, you're such a pain in my ass – no, don't make that face, that was unintentional, I swear.'

Aster relented and laughed, and accepted one last kiss from Jack, who lingered. 'Alright, fine, I'll go to the couch,' he said. Aster frowned.

'We've got other rooms.'

'It's a saying, Aster. When my husband kicks me out of bed, I have to sleep on the couch.'

'We're not married yet.'

'Now you're just being difficult,' Jack said, and stuck his tongue out. Aster flicked it, and Jack yelped. 'Fine, I see how it is. Good night, Aster.'

'No sweetheart?'

'I've told you before, and I'll tell you again,' Jack said, and kissed Aster's fingers. 'I'll call you sweetheart when you're sweet. Now, I'm leaving. Seriously. It's your fault I haven't left yet.'

'Good _night_ , Snowbird,' Aster said firmly, laying back out of reach.

Jack looked at him a moment, and smiled, his expression soft and loving. 'Good night, sweetheart.'

He left the room, and though it felt darker than it had before, the bright thought of what was waiting for Aster come the morning was enough to lull him to sleep.

 

 

_It took Aster a moment to realise where he was. He hadn't seen this table or that door in two years, after all. He hadn't thought he'd ever see them again._

_He looked down at himself; he wore his bandoleer, his bracers, even his grass-green scarf. But when he looked up again, at the chair across the table, he was still alone._

_Aster puzzled over this for a moment. He'd never arrived alone here – Other Aster had always been waiting for him. He tensed up now, fear flooding him._

_When last he'd spoken to Other Aster – a mysterious copy of him from another world, one where they, too, were fighting Pitch – it had been in farewell, a 'good on ye' that they'd succeeded. But the first time he'd spoken to Other Aster, it had been a warning of what was to come._

_Aster swallowed, hard. Was something wrong once more?_

_He stood, and knotted his scarf more securely. He wasn't going to learn anything, sitting and dithering like this. He strode forward, around the table, and turned the knob on the door._

_The hallway he entered wavered before his eyes, before solidifying. It felt – loosely familiar, and it took Aster a moment to place why. Then, his eyes widened. The shape was much the same as his childhood home, if wilder; moss and grass grew up the sides, and stones the size of boulders were set haphazardly around. Flowers grew proudly in the stone's cracks and in small patches, and Aster crouched beside one of them, reaching out to the flowers. It took a few minutes, but they began to speak at last, sounding deeply surprised to see him – he wasn't_ their _tender, no way, but he_ was _at the same time._

_'What the hell are_ you _doing here?'_

_Aster's ears twitched at the alien(familiar) voice, and stood, turning._

_Jack floated above the ground, watching him – but it wasn't_ his _Jack. This Jack was too short, too thin, and somehow inexplicably older than Aster's Jack could ever be. Centuries seemed to have carved invisible marks into his face, and the years were heavy in his eyes._

_'Couldn't tell ye,' Aster said. 'Though – have to admit, not sure where I am at the mo'.'_

_'You're in the Warren,' Other Jack said. 'I should, uh, get Bunny. He'll know what to do. Just – don't go anywhere, alright?'_

_'Wait, ye didn't bring me here?' Aster asked, and relaxed a smidge. 'Nothing's wrong?'_

_'What? Of course not –' Other Jack snapped his fingers when he realised something, just like Aster's Jack. 'Oh, man, that's what you thought? Wow. Sorry about that.'_

_'S'alright,' Aster said. 'Ye run and get – er, me. This is a bit more bizarre than I'm used to,' he admitted._

_'You're telling me,' Other Jack said. 'You shouldn't be here. Hold on – don't move, got it?'_

_Aster rolled his eyes, amused. 'I'll be right here.'_

_'Great. Just – great.'_

_Other Jack took off down the grassy hall, faster than Aster's Jack could, and Aster returned to the flowers – a lovely bunch of heliotrope, who seemed to be delighted with his attention, now that they understood the situation._

_Then, from a distance, Aster could here a strangled yell of 'WHO'S HERE?'_

_He chuckled under his breath, and sat down beside the flowers._

_It wasn't long before Other Aster appeared himself, all in a tizzy; his green robes were disarrayed, and his purple sash was lopsided. One of his golden, egg-shaped buttons was missing. Other Jack was grinning brightly, clearly amused._

_'How did ye get in here?' Other Aster demanded, staring at him like he'd seen a ghost._

_'Went to sleep,' Aster shrugged. 'How it always worked before.'_

_'But – ye shouldn't be able to come here at all without me pulling ye in,' Other Aster said, bewilderment making him tetchy. 'Is something wrong? Did Pitch come back?'_

_'Buckley's chance,' Aster snorted; that, at least, he was confident in. 'The earthblood absorbed him. I don't think he_ could _come back.'_

_'Then what the bloody hell are ye_ doing here _?!' Other Aster shouted._

_'I couldn't tell ye,' Aster said, refusing to be riled up. 'Far as I'm concerned, life is pretty good.'_

_'We're such assholes,' Other Jack said, and elbowed Other Aster hard enough to shut him up. 'Didn't even ask after your day. How have you guys been?'_

_'All of us? Well. Tooth's still terrifying the anklebiter population with her cough syrups, and Sandy's still eating more chocky than he should,' Aster replied. 'North's managing well with Em, who's taken up Jack's slack on the message running service. She's better than him at it, not that anyone dares tell him that.'_

_'Huh,' Other Jack said, and his face looked wistful._

_'Ombric is running Santoff Claussen, and he looks just about twenty years younger now that he isn't so stressed,' Aster continued, and grinned. 'Oh, and Katherine and Nightlight have been running about like wild things, but that's normal. They should be home for the big day tomorrow, though.'_

_'The big day?' Other Aster repeated, visibly curious against his better judgement._

_Aster smiled widely. 'I'm getting married tomorrow.'_

_Other Jack whooped loudly and punched a stunned-looking Other Aster in the shoulder. 'I told you!' he crowed, all but doing a jig in the air. 'I told you they'd tie the knot! You owe me like three pies now –'_

_'Rack off, Frost,' Other Aster huffed, and Aster raised his eyebrows._

_'Are ye two not –'_

_'Oh, we are,' Other Jack said, sounding distinctly satisfied about it all. Aster snickered at the embarrassed tilt of Other Aster's ears. 'But he didn't think you two would actually get married.'_

_'Not much would stop him, that's for sure,' Aster said, smiling fondly, and Other Aster groaned._

_'No, don't make that face, ye dill, do ye have any idea how demented it makes us look –'_

_'Oh, I think it's a great expression,' Other Jack interrupted, a lazy grin on his face. 'Very cute. If PA!me doesn't think so, he's dumb.'_

_'I get plenty of his comments to that effect, yes,' Aster said, rolling his eyes once more. He tilted his head and his ears, curious. 'PA you?'_

_'Post-Apocalypse,' Other Jack shrugged. 'We had to come up with some kind of designation system for all the worlds we were looking into. Initials ended up being it.'_

_'Oi, Jack,' Other Aster said, looking at Aster intently. 'Can ye go find me something in me library? I want to show it to him.'_

_'Ugh, I'm not your errand boy,' Other Jack protested, but the bite of it was utterly demolished by the following 'What am I looking for?'_

_'It's a slim blue book, gold binding, with green leaves inlaid,' Other Aster described. 'Hasn't got a title. Should be in the back.'_

_Other Jack gave a facetious little salute and took off, leaving faint spirals of frost in his wake._

_Aster, though, had been watching Other Aster's face, and grinned once Other Jack was gone. 'Ye don't own a single book that looks like that, do ye?'_

_'Not a one,' Other Aster agreed. 'Needed him to scarper for a bit. Let's get ye an actual seat that isn't the ground, and some tea. Congratulations, by the way, even if ye just cost me some of me best boysenberries.'_

_'Thank ye,' Aster said, and stood, dusting himself off. He followed Other Aster back into the room he was most familiar with, and took his seat from before. The tea Other Aster conjured up was some kind of lemongrass blend, and smelled lovely._

_'So. Married, huh?'_

_'Yeah,' Aster said, smiling, but he felt his ears twitch down. Other Aster didn't miss it._

_'Nervous, then?'_

_'Not really,' Aster shrugged, taking a sip. 'I'm not nervous, exactly, just –'_

_'Scared out of yer wits?' Other Aster said, and it sounded sympathetic._

_Aster flicked an ear in agreement. 'There's just – so much that can go wrong.'_

_'He seems to love ye,' Other Aster said. 'I don't think he'd –'_

_'That's not it,' Aster interrupted. 'I'm not scared he doesn't love me, or won't in the future. He's – he's_ Jack _, that's not even on me radar.'_

_Other Aster looked taken aback. 'Then what's yer problem?'_

_'Everything else,' Aster said, and took a deep breath. 'He almost died two years ago. For that matter, I almost died. We're swearing to live the rest of our lives together, and I don't know what's worse – that I might go before he does, or that he might go before me.'_

_'Ye don't know that'll happen for a long time,' Other Aster said, but Aster just shook his head._

_'I know. But it_ will _, someday, and there's nothing I can do to make it better or easier on either of us. I'm –' he grit his teeth. 'I hate being helpless.'_

_'You aren't, though.'_

_Aster and Other Aster yelped in the precise same way at the precise same time; neither of them had noticed Other Jack opening the door, or listening with a strange, solemn expression._

_'Jack, this isn't really –'_

_'Shush, Foo Foo, you're immortal, you don't get it,' Other Jack said, cutting him off, and floating over. 'Bunny.'_

_'I go by Aster, usually,' Aster said, making Other Aster make a face that he didn't understand. Other Jack just looked briefly delighted before returning to his solemn expression of before; he sat on the table, legs dangling off the edge._

_'Aster, then. Take it from someone who's already dead – you can't stop that from happening.'_

_Aster stared in a morbid fascination. 'Are ye a ghost?'_

_'Something like that,' Other Jack said with a laugh. 'More importantly, I've done the whole dying thing. And it hurts and sucks, and the people left behind miss you. But you know what?'_

_He poked Aster with a finger that left frost curling up and over the fur of his shoulder. 'The people left behind are still living. They still talk and laugh and love and_ remember _you. And if I had a chance to go back, I'd give them more to remember. Not that I would, mind you,' and Other Jack laughed again. 'I finally got this jerk over here to admit that he wants me around, I'm not giving_ that _up any time soon. And I'd prefer not to do the whole 'three hundred years of solitude' thing over again.'_

_Ah, explained how he looked so old and young at the same time, then._

_'So that's how you're not helpless,' Other Jack insisted. 'You're still alive, and with the people you love. So give them stuff to remember, and let them give you things worth remembering. That's the important part. And hey, who knows? You might not be apart as long as you think.' He grinned with straight white teeth that would have made Tooth swoon. 'Neither of you are going to turn into spirits, so it's all good. You'll get to see what comes after.'_

_'Frost...' Other Aster said, and it sounded painful. 'Jack.'_

_'Don't get all emotional on me, Bugs,' Other Jack said, laughing. 'I know the contents of your library in and out by now, I know why you sent me off. Too bad you are the literal worst at relationships.'_

_'Oi!'_

_'Though you do alright at ours,' Other Jack conceded. 'Now, Aster, you should head on home. It'll be morning soon. And – say hi to PA!Jack for me, would you? He's smarter than your average bear.'_

_'If I came here without help,' Aster said mildly, 'might not need to. Ye might see him yerself.'_

_'That'd be cool,' Other Jack said, grinning. 'Now, seriously, wake up.'_

 

 

'Bunny! Seriously, wake up!'

Aster shot up in his bed, startled awake by Emma's yells through his door.

'It's morning, you braindead rabbit!' She shouted, pounding on the door. 'You know, the morning of your _wedding_? How are you still asleep?'

'Holy dooley, I'm up,' he said loudly. 'Can ye stop trying to break me door down?'

'I'm giving you ten minutes to get decent, then I'm sending Tooth and Padma in,' she yelled back. 'I have to get Jack ready, because at least he _normally_ sleeps this late!'

'What time is it?'

'Almost nine! God, everyone's going to be here in two hours, I can't _believe_ you two idiots –'

'Ye'd think it was _her_ wedding,' Aster huffed, but set about getting himself presentable. By the time Tooth and Baby Tooth entered the room, he was at least mostly brushed, and he looked less dead.

And in the meantime, he chewed over his dream, which was unusually clear in his mind.

'Weird,' he muttered, and then Tooth was upon him.

'Oh, no, you don't!' she said loudly, snatching away his brush. 'You're getting a full bath today, so help me god!'

Aster flinched. 'Not a chance, Tooth,' he said. 'The river water is going to be freezing – I'm not risking me hide, and I'm not hauling it up here. If I catch cold on me wedding day, Jack will make me into soup.'

Tooth and Baby Tooth shared a look, but it wasn't the look Aster had been expecting; frustration, he'dve thought, or commiseration. Not as if they had a great joke just waiting to be dropped onto him.

'What?' he asked suspiciously.

As if in answer, there was a shout down the hall, a voice that was both deadly familiar and horribly out of place.

'Wake up, you giant airhead, or I'll get Consuela to set you on fire!'

'No,' Aster said, ears perking up. 'Ye didn't – how did –'

Emma bustled into the room, and following her was a tall woman with long brown curls who radiated a desert-like warmth.

'Consuela,' Aster said, getting to his feet and grinning widely. 'How on _earth_ are ye here?'

Her voice was soft and accented, and Aster had to strain to hear her over her partner's traded barbs with Jack.

'Emma has been writing to us,' she said, as Jack shouted loudly, 'Airhead? _Airhead_? How the hell are you in my house?!'

'She has, has she?' Aster said, giving Emma a look. Emma just batted her eyelashes, looking precisely as ridiculous doing it as Jack ever did. 'Sneaky. So she told ye the wedding was today, I'm guessing?'

'Indeed,' Consuela said, ruffling Emma's hair. 'She's una niña buena, ¿claro?'

'Gracias, Consuela,' Emma said in her perfect Espautl. '¿Es la agua hace calor?'

'Si, vientita,' Consuela said, smiling her soft, secretive smile. 'We're ready.'

Aster, who understood as much Espautl as he understood North's Russian, frowned at that. 'Er,' he said. 'What was that?'

Emma's response was a bright smile and a bounding nearer. 'Hold on tight, Bunny!'

'No, no, don't ye dare –' Aster warned, and yelped as Emma lifted him over her head, flailing limbs and all. Her strength came in handy sometimes, but it certainly had its downsides. 'Put me down, Em, or I'm never making ye the chocky biscuits –'

'That's an empty threat!' she said sweetly, marching out of the room. Aster shut his eyes hurriedly; he was determined not to see Jack before the ceremony, and god knew where they intended to take him. Might plan to throw him in the _river_ , for all he knew, he thought uncharitably.

She marched down the stairs, Jack's shouting match with Caroline growing fainter, and he risked opening his eyes to find himself in his own kitchen, a massive wooden tub sitting in the middle of the floor, full of gently steaming water – courtesy of Consuela's heat generation, he realised. 'No, Em, don't ye even think about it –'

'Too late!' she giggled, and dumped him into the water.

He flailed a bit more, sloshing water over the sides, and hissed at the heat of the water. 'Ye are a cruel lot,' he said to the four women looking at him with varying shades of amusement. 'All of ye. Baby Tooth, I expected _ye_ , at least, to be mature.'

Baby Tooth made several rude gestures at him, probably at the use of her much-protested nickname, and Emma giggled. Tooth just looked scandalised.

'Padma, honestly,' she sighed. 'Go with Emma, help get Jack ready. Miss Consuela and I can handle Bunny.'

'That sounds a touch ominous,' Aster said, flicking water out of his ears.

'We're giving you ten minutes to wash yourself,' Tooth said sweetly, 'before we come in and do it ourselves.' She tossed his purloined brush back to him. 'And I don't care how much you protest, either.'

Tooth, for all her diminutive stature, could look deeply menacing when she wanted to, and so Aster just did as she said. Some things just weren't the hassle.

He did pointedly wait until she came in to check on him to shake the worst of the water off, because he was allowed a _smidge_ of revenge.

It was a whirlwind of preparations, almost all of them under Tooth's command; she'd seemingly elected herself the director of the wedding, or whatever it was called, and so was deftly organising her motley crews – consisting of Emma, Baby Tooth, Consuela, Caroline, and a bemused Nightlight when he arrived with word that Katherine was running a bit late, as she'd had to talk North out of rousing half the town. Aster just retreated as soon as he could to his room again, both to settle his still damp fur into some semblance of normal order, and to nurse his wounded pride. He'd been thrown in the bath by a _sixteen year old_ , for cripe's sake.

When he entered the room, he saw a package left on the bed, and huffed; of course, he should have known Tooth would insist on some kind of finery. Best to get it over with.

When he opened it, though, he found – something very different.

A scarf, knit from the cleanest white yarn Aster had ever seen, sat in his lap, and worked at either end was a delicate pattern of deep blue snowflakes – mirrors to the pattern on Jack's favourite old sweater. After a minute of staring, Aster realised there was a note tucked in amongst the soft folds, with Jack's familiar looping handwriting scrawled across the mottled paper.

_Aster_ , it said, _See? I told you you'd be wearing white. Before you freak, I've got white on, too. You'll see. I think you'll like it. Love, Jack._

Aster realised he was grinning, stupidly wide, and he couldn't make it go away.

 

 

'Oh, you're so handsome,' Tooth sighed when she came in to tell him that it was almost time. 'Look at that scarf – goodness, no wonder Jack wanted the snowflake pattern so badly.' To Aster's surprise, she wiped away tears, water gathering in the corners of her large violet eyes. 'Which means I know exactly what he was making. Oh, you two are such a pair, my _goodness_.'

'Don't cry, Tooth,' Aster said awkwardly. 'It's supposed to be a happy day, yeah?'

'If you don't think people cry when they're happy, I'm going to need to check your head,' Tooth threatened. Aster, who could remember the day he'd left this very tree, the way he'd cried in relief and joy to find Jack alive, only smiled.

'Well, looks like this is it,' he said, and got to his feet. 'Is Jack ready?'

'And bouncing off the walls,' she said. 'You're going to knock his socks off, without a doubt.' She adjusted the knot of his scarf, clearly a ploy for her to have something to fiddle with. 'Though,' and her smile became secretive, 'He might do the same to you.'

'He does every day,' Aster said, and Tooth sighed.

'Goodness, you two are too much,' she said. 'Even for your wedding day.'

Aster grinned and didn't bother protesting.

She led him out of the room, and through the house; all the halls were silent, with everyone else outside already.

'If you don't mind,' she said, drawing to a stop before the front door and giving him a nervous glance he didn't understand, 'I'd like to – I'd like to give you away? If that's alright?'

Aster's ears fell softly to either side of his head, his chest swelling with something warm. 'I'd – thank ye, Tooth,' he said at last. He'd not even thought of that, and the offer was touching, humbling.

'No, thank _you_ ,' Tooth said, and laid her arm atop Aster's. _You've been a good friend,_ she continued in his head. _Do you remember what I said, before the battle two years ago?_

Aster had to rack his brains a little to get at the memory, but then Tooth's mind, brushing softly against his like the newest leaves in spring, drew the memory forth: her fierce face, her sorrowful grin, her promise that someday she would tell him where she had come from.

She was smiling at him now, and the curve of her mouth was a little bitter, a little wistful. _Once you two have had some time to yourselves_ , she murmured, _I'd like to come tell you. It will be a long story, and I'll have to talk to the others – their stories are a part of it, too. And there are... secrets that need weighing. I need some more time to phrase it right, but I think I'm ready._

Aster had thought her offer to give him away, to stand in for his parents, was humbling. It had nothing on the trust, the gift she was giving now.

'I'd be honoured,' Aster replied, a little choked up, and when Tooth hugged him tight about the neck, he pretended a tear didn't drop to glisten on her green and purple feathers.

'All right, it's time,' she said. 'I'll lead you to Sandy at the same time as North leads Jack over – of course, North would do the ceremony if he wasn't giving Jack away –'

'I think Sandy will be chuffed,' Aster said. 'He loves having a captive audience.'

'He does, at that,' Tooth agreed. 'He'll do a bit for the ceremony, you two will exchange vows and rings, and then he'll declare you spouses. I tried to push for husband and husband, but he insisted it ruined the meter of the thing.'

'That's more than alright.'

'Well, you don't care one way or another, and neither does Jack, so I guess it's not a big deal,' Tooth said, sighing and rolling her eyes. 'How you two manage to be so romantic and so – _not_ , I will never understand.'

'Practice, at this point,' Aster said with an impish twist to his smile that he knew he'd learnt from Jack. 'Before that, it was all natural talent.'

'You two, terrible influences on each other,' she scolded, then took his paw in her much smaller hand. 'You ready?'

'Course,' Aster nodded. Tooth flitted to the window beside the door and waved, a clear signal, and then she opened the door.

The only music was that of the Wind, singing cheerfully high above, a sweeping tune that Aster imagined summer storms sounded like, if they could sing. Clustered around the bottom of the stairs was his family, their faces smiling and more than a few misty-eyed. All seven of Tooth's daughters, bright spots of colour; Katherine and Nightlight, words soft orange around her head and his glow like the largest, bluest moon; Ombric, standing at Katherine's shoulder and smiling as widely as he ever did; Caroline, her black carapace shining in the sunlight, and Consuela, hair caught in the occasional breeze.

To the side stood Sandy, grinning like a loon, and Emma stood beside him, holding a small pine box in her hands. She looked as if she didn't know which direction to smile in, wavering left to right like she was watching a children's game and the ball was being tossed all over the court.

Standing amidst the field of flowers and grass where only a few weeks past had waved golden wheat, North was the first immediately visible, being massive and dressed mostly in red. He was beaming, blue eyes visible from here and shining wetly.

Aster, having found everyone else, finally let his eyes rest on Jack.

Jack was watching him, grinning like his mouth didn't know how to make any other shape, and around his neck was knotted a white scarf, much like Aster's – only a geometric pattern of green leaves emblazoned the ends, and as Aster let Tooth lead him down the stairs, he realised the lavender blotch at the centre was actually a painstakingly worked aster bloom.

His heart, strangely enough, felt like it was breaking and being mended in the same moment, and he wasn't aware of the stretch of time between when he caught Jack's eyes, and when they stood face to face at last, North and Tooth hovering (in one case literally) at their shoulders.

'Ye're too clever by half,' Aster said, his voice coming out a bit wobbly.

'And you're too good-looking,' Jack replied cheekily. 'Someone had to be the brains.'

There was a loud snort from someone behind them, and in unison, Aster and Jack snapped glares at Caroline, who waved her chitinous hands, dismissive.

'What?' she asked. 'It was funny.'

Consuela rapped her over the head smartly, but Jack had reached out, and Aster wasn't paying attention anymore, only really aware of the way Jack's fingers interlaced with his.

Sandy signed for everyone's attention, and then launched into his speech – a patient series of symbols, double their usual size and far above his head. From what Aster could tell, it was the usual guff – how they were being joined before the eyes of their family, their lives were from this day on forever intertwined, et cetera. It didn't quite feel like guff now that it was about _him_ , though.

Sandy signed the traditional question, asking if any chose to object to the union, and Jack tossed a wink over his shoulder at Caroline. 'Last chance before I'm off the market,' he said to a loud round of laughter, Aster unable to contain some chuckles of his own.

'Please,' Emma said, poking her brother. 'You've been off the market for _years_.'

More laughter.

Aster gripped Jack's hand tightly as Sandy signed for their vows, and turned to Emma, who was opening the box. She handed him the ring, quickly so that the ever-curious Jack couldn't see it, and Aster faced his partner, smiling so hard his cheeks hurt.

'When I met ye,' he began, trying hard not to think of everyone who was listening, 'ye were twelve years old and so mad I thought ye'd blow up, before I found out about the ice thing.'

Jack rolled his eyes as more laughter went around.

'Ye were me friend for a long time,' Aster continued, 'and at the end of all things, ye are the best friend I've ever had. No offence to the rest of them, course, but ye are – ye're me friend, and me family, and now ye're me husband. That's a lot to put on anyone.'

He lifted Jack's hand. 'But ye've never once faltered,' he said, voice quiet. 'Ye have always borne up under the weight of some unimaginable things, and I reckon I'm a lucky bloke, that I got to even witness ye, much less become part of yer life like this. So first and foremost, I love ye. But right on the heels of that?' he slid the ring on Jack's finger, and brushed the pads of his own over the smooth wood. 'I want to say thank ye,' he said as the redwood ring came to life, curling over Jack's finger and humming warmly with tiny green leaves that would never fall, never wilt, never die.

Jack stared at it, then up at him, eyes wide. He could see Jack's questions burning, but he watched as Jack swallowed them back, and held out a hand for his own ring.

'Aster,' Jack said, 'First of all? That's not fair, that whole thing you just did there. At all. How am I supposed to match _that_?'

Laughter once more.

'But I'm going to try,' Jack said, eyebrows drawing together in determination. 'You were twenty-two when I met you. You looked like a massive rabbit, and you talked like a crazy person, and I had no idea what the hell was wrong with my heart, because it wasn't beating right all of a sudden. You barely talked at all, and you almost never came to town, and that was the literal worst thing you could have done, pique my curiosity.'

Jack smiled now. 'I never thought you'd ever want me. Ever. I was ten years younger and so messed up, so pissed and so sad, about so many things. And then – you started talking to me. Like, really talking. It was almost never about big, important things, but you made them important things, anyway. You have a way of talking about deep things without ever saying the words. And you were my _friend_ , so much more important than being the guy I was in love with. You didn't let me sink into depression, or anger. You kept me afloat – which, some days felt like a literal thing.

'You loved me, no matter what way it was, and then you – you _loved_ me, and I still can't believe it some days. You helped me at the risk of everything you'd ever known, and you saved me when I needed you, and you let me save _you_. So this was kind of an inevitable thing. You said it best – 'if you think there's anyone else I want to spend my life with, then _you're_ the one with a concussion'.'

'He _said_ that?' Tooth called despite herself, sounding horrified and hilarious with it. Aster couldn't help his huff of laughter.

'So, you said it best just now, too,' Jack said, and took Aster' hand, sliding his ring into place as if Aster's finger had always been waiting for it. 'Thank you.'

The ring was clear ice, cool through Aster's fur, with a rivulet of blue running through it. 'Took some time,' Jack said, picking up Aster's confusion, 'but it won't melt, even when I threw it in the fire.'

'Jack,' Aster managed, but could go no further.

Sandy signed to them, looking like he was on the verge of tears himself (Sandy always had loved a good romance, Aster thought with faint humour) and above his head appeared a moving picture. Two figures, visibly Aster and Jack, took each other's hands, kissed chastely, and then were surrounded by a thin mist. Aster had no idea what that last bit was about, but he could get behind part one and two, and tugged Jack to himself. Jack looped his arms over Aster's shoulders and tugged him down, kissing him hard, closemouthed and beaming all the while.

Aster returned the kiss – this first kiss of the rest of their lives – and the Wind sang above them, the trees and plants hummed their glee, and their family cheered. Sandy threw a great blaze of light over them, his version of rice, Aster supposed, and Jack laughed into his mouth.

'Look at us,' Jack said, and Aster kissed him again.

'Look at us,' Aster agreed, pulling away, and thought that if nothing else, this was a hell of a day to remember.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So, bad news first. My computer attempted to drink soda, and predictably, that ended pretty poorly. So, my original plans for Toothiana and the Holy War have been put on hold while I get the ding dang thing fixed.
> 
> The good news is, I lost none of the work I'd already done, so I'm not completely screwed! Hurray!
> 
> TatHW should begin posting no later than February, if I play my cards right. Until then, look for other, smaller things from me, and I thank you for you patience.
> 
> Also, if anyone wants me to write your wedding vows, this right here should be reason numero uno why that's a terrible idea.


End file.
